Engineering topics

Gaddis, L. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Gaddis, L. R..

24 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1985

Emplacement of Long Lava Flows on Mauna Loa (hawaii) and Alba (mars)

Spacecraft images revealed that extremely long lava flows (more than 200 km long) exist on the surface of Mars and Io. Compared to terrestial volcanic eruptions, the occurrence of these long flows is very unusual, and may hint at a different style of either magma production or eruption. Attempts to model the emplacement of the long flows on other planets, using a Bingham rheological model, were only partially successful. The objective is to conduct field measurements on long lava flows in Hawaii (where individual flows such as those of 1859 and 1881 exceed 40 km in length) in order to document and interpret their flow characteristics. In this way, a better understanding of the formation of long lava flows is sought as well as a determination of whether the Mauna Loa flows are terrestrial analogs to the long flows seen on Mars and Io.

Mouginismark, P. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Submarine Volcanic Eruptions and Potential Analogs for Venus

As part of an analysis program to better understand the diversity of volcanic processes on the terrestrial planets, an investigation of the volcanic landforms which exist on the Earth's ocean floor was initiated. In part, this analysis is focused toward gaining a better understanding of submarine volcanic landforms in their own right, but also it is hoped that these features may show similarities to volcanic landforms on Venus, due to the high ambient water (Earth) and atmospheric (Venus) pressures. A series of numerical modelling experiments was performed to investigate the relative importance of such attributes as water pressure and temperature on the eruption process, and to determine the rate of cooling and emplacement of lava flows in the submarine environment. Investigations to date show that the confining water pressure and the buoyancy effects of the surrounding water significantly affect the styles of volcanism on the ocean floor. In the case of Venusian volcanism, confining pressures will not be as great as that found at the ocean's abyssal plains, but nevertheless the general trend toward reducing magma vesiculation will hold true for Venus as well as the ocean floor. Furthermore, other analogs may also be found between submarine volcanism and Venusian activity.

Wilson, L.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Remote Sensing Analyses of Localized Lunar Dark Mantle Deposits

Near-infrared spectral reflectance data were obtained for 12 localized lunar dark mantle deposits. The dominant feature in these data is the Fe(+2) absorption band in the 1.0 micron wavelength region. In order to emphasize differences in the characteristics of this absorption band, a straight-line continuum was removed from these spectra. On the basis of the depth and shape of this 1.0 micron absorption band, these spectra can be separated into three groups. Group 1 includes spectra from Grimaldi pyroclastics, Franklin floor, Atlas dhc 1, and Archimedes south rim. Absorption band centers in this group are located near 0.93 to 0.95 microns, and depths are approximately 4 to 5%. The shape of the 1.0 micron band in these spectra can be described as check-like, with a straight, steep short-wavelength edge and a straight longer-wavelength edge with a shallower slope. Group 2 is comprised of spectra from Aristoteles East 1 and 2, Rima Fresnel and Atlas dhc 2. These 1.0 micron bands are centered near 0.96 micron, and are deeper (7%) and more symmetrical than those in Group 1. Spectra in group 3 are represented by that of J. Herschel; which have a moderately deep (7%), broad absorption band in the 1.0 micron wavelength region.

Gaddis, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Remote sensing of lunar pyroclastic mantling deposits

Reflectance spectra from several regional lunar pyroclastic deposits are presented in support of the theory that mantling units have a unique spectral signature indicative of the presence of a significant, Fe-bearing volcanic glass component. The Rime Bode region discussed is illustrative of an area in which several types of remote sensing data were used to reconstruct the geologic events associated with the emplacement of a regional pyroclastic mantling deposit. Five new areas are identified on the basis of the present data which may represent higher albedo regional pyroclastic deposits.

Gaddis, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Planning for VRM: Radar and sonar studies of volcanic terrains on Earth, Venus and Mars

Venera 15 and 16 radar images of Venus, together with Earth based data from the Arecibo Observatory, indicate that volcanism has played an important role in the evolution of the Venusian landscape. At the end of this decade, NASA's Venus Radar Mapper (VRM) spacecraft will return near global information that will further constrain the planet's geologic history. Due to the diversity of volcano/tectonic features that have already been identified on Venus, and the intrinsic differences between radar images and conventional photography, additional expertise is being developed with which to interpret the VRM images of this unusual environment. Several attempts to better understand the physical characteristics of volcanic terrains are described here. Pioneer Venus radar altimeter measurements of topographic variability and surface roughness are compared with Goldstone radar measurements of volcanic terrains on Mars. Synthetic aperture radar images obtained by the SIR-B Space Shuttle experiment over Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, are employed to investigate the differences in radar returns from pahoehoe, aa and sheet lava flows. Four polarization, multiple incidence angle, aircraft radar images of the Medicine Lake area of N. California are used to address the unusually high cross-polarization ratio of lobate flows around Beta Regio on Venus, as measured by the Arecibo radar.

Mouginis-Mark, P. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Preliminary geologic analyses of SIR-B radar data for Hawaii

A number of distinct topographic and textural units were discerned on SIR-B radar images of the Kilauea/Kau Desert area. The SIR-B enhanced large-scale topographic features, such as the Kahuku Pali and the Koae Faults (both oriented towards the radar antenna), while it was unable to detect features facing away from the radar antenna such as the Hilina and Kaoiki Pali. Textural units which were identified on the SIR-B images include aa flows of various ages, and several pyroclastic units. The extreme surface roughness of aa flows produced high radar returns on both the 28 deg and 48 deg SIR-B data sets. In contrast, pahoehoe flows produced smooth, low return units which were difficult to distinguish from surrounding radar-dark materials. It is suggested that multilook direction data, acquired at steeper incidence angles during a reflight of SIR-B, may aid in the further identification of pahoehoe flows and subtle topographic features.

Gaddis, L. R.↗